Review petition filed in SC against 2005 SP land allotment

Almost a month after dismissal of a public interest litigation seeking quashing of land allotted by the Lucknow Development Authority (LDA) to relatives of Samajwadi Party leaders and bureaucrats by the Mulayam Singh Yadav government in 2005, petitioner Vishwanath Chaturvedi on Wednesday moved the Supreme Court seeking review of the order.

In his review petition, Chaturvedi, a practising lawyer, contended there was enough evidence to show that the plots were alloted to kith and kin of Mulayum Singh Yadav, including father-in-law of Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akilesh Yadav.

"This court has failed to consider that the action of respondents amounts to oppressive, arbitrary and unconstitutional action in as much that about 10,900 sq meter of prime land at Lucknow has been allotted to 28 persons who are having nexus with then chief minister of UP and his relatives, bureaucrats and officials of the state government," he said in the petition.

Review petitions are heard by the same bench that decided the case. Generally there is no open court hearings and advocates are not allowed to argue a review petition.

An SC bench headed by justice Aftab Alam had on August 16 refused to interfere in the land allotment issue after Uttar Pradesh government counsel submitted the petitioner was also a beneficiary of the allotment under the discretionary quota of the state.

"We are not inclined to interfere in the matter," the bench had said.

Mulayam Singh had alleged that Chaturvedi was a member of the Congress party and the PIL was politically motivated.

The petition was filed in 2005 by Chaturvedi who alleged that 28 plots were illegally allotted by the LDA to people close to the ruling Samajwadi Party in the state.

The beneficiaries of the allotment of these 28 plots in Vipul Khand, Gomti Nagar, Lucknow included politicians, senior bureaucrats and relations of politicians and bureaucrats.

Prominent among the beneficiaries were RCS Rawat, father-in-law of present chief minister Akhilesh Yadav and Anita Singh (IAS), special secretary to the then chief minister Mulayam Singh Yadav.